A federal judge has dealt President Donald Trump a serious legal setback, blocking for the second time in as many days his attempt to send military forces into Portland, Oregon. U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut ruled Sunday that the administration’s move to deploy National Guard troops from other states—California and Texas—directly violated her earlier order, which found no legal grounds for federalizing Oregon’s Guard members.
Immergut’s sharp rebuke exposes the White House’s efforts to sidestep judicial authority. Despite Trump’s justification that troops were needed to protect federal immigration officials from daily violence, the judge, who was appointed by Trump himself, called the president’s assessment “untethered to facts.” She concluded the administration had failed to meet the legal threshold required to federalize the state’s Guard troops in the first place.
Just hours after the ruling, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went ahead and ordered hundreds of California National Guard members into Portland and arranged for Texas troops to deploy not only there but also to Chicago and other cities. According to Oregon Guard commander Alan Gronewold, nearly 200 California troops had either arrived or were en route Sunday, with California officials initially told 300 personnel would be sent. The Justice Department later clarified only 200 were dispatched, the rest remaining in California.
In an unusual Sunday night telephone hearing, Judge Immergut didn’t mince words. She expressed clear frustration that the administration appeared to be deliberately flouting her order. “I am certainly troubled by now hearing that both California and Texas National Guard are being sent into Oregon, which does appear to be in direct contravention of my order,” she said. Calling the deployments a violation of federal law and the Tenth Amendment’s protection of state sovereignty, Immergut’s decision underscored the limits on presidential power in this context.
In court filings Sunday, attorneys for Oregon and California, joined by the city of Portland, urged the judge to broaden her original injunction to block troops from other states. With reports that Texas troops were also en route, they pushed to extend the ban nationwide—to prevent the administration from simply shuffling forces around to evade the court’s reach.
“It feels a little bit like we’re playing a game of rhetorical whack-a-mole here,” Oregon Senior Assistant Attorney General Scott Kennedy lamented, describing the government’s attempts to outmaneuver the court.
Justice Department attorney Eric Hamilton tried to defend the administration’s position, arguing the initial order applied only to Oregon troops. But Immergut quickly shut that down: “You are missing the point,” she told him.
Hamilton also asked the judge to delay her latest ruling so the government could file an appeal, but she refused.
The battle over these troop deployments now likely heads to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the Trump administration has already sought emergency relief from Immergut’s initial Saturday ruling.
California Governor Gavin Newsom praised the judge’s swift action. “Donald Trump tried to turn our soldiers into instruments of his political will, and while our fight continues, tonight the rule of law said ‘hell no.’”
At the time of the ruling, neither the White House nor the Department of Justice had issued a response.
